BRADFORD CITY FC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION TO HOST SECOND ANNUAL COMMUNITY TAKEOVER DAY

Waleed, a local school pupil, addresses the Bantams crowd at half-time during the Foundation's first-ever Community Takeover Day.

Bradford City AFC will host its second annual Community Takeover Day on Saturday 7th March, as the city of Bradford gathers to celebrate the work of Bradford City AFC’s charitable arm, the Bradford City FC Community Foundation. 

The Foundation’s second Takeover Day follows the success of the inaugural running of such an event in February 2025, when City took on MK Dons as part of their promotion-winning season.

The day will be marked by a series of events showcasing the Foundation’s work in the city. A parade around the University of Bradford Stadium pitch at half-time will see hundreds of people from across the city, including pupils from local schools, competition winners, attendees from social outreach groups and many more, united in celebrating the impact the Foundation has had, and continues to have. 

The Bradford City FC Community Foundation deliver sport and support for the people of Bradford and the wider area.

As the parade takes place, Foundation CEO and former City striker Ian Ormondroyd, alongside Chief Operating Officer Lizzie Saunderson-Trowell, will deliver a speech from the middle of the pitch. 

The capacity opening of the TL Dallas Community Stand, which will house 1500 attendees from across the Foundation’s projects, programmes and partners, will cheer on the Bantams. A joint venture between the Foundation, Club and long-time Club sponsor TL Dallas and Co Ltd., the stand is a dedicated, alcohol-free community stand which welcomes non-typical, usually first-time fans from areas of high social deprivation to the University of Bradford Stadium.

The Bradford City FC Community Foundation, which was established in 1988 by the PFA, and has been under the stewardship of former City, Aston Villa and Leicester City star Ian Ormondroyd since 1999. It will now celebrate its second Takeover Day, as the Club and Foundation align to spread the word about the Foundation’s work.

Foundation CEO Ian Ormondroyd will address the crowd at half-time.

After leading the organisation for over a quarter of a century, Ian Ormondroyd said: “After the success of our first Takeover Day last year, we cannot wait to go even bigger and better this year. Bantams supporters will have the chance to chat to our team around the ground, and I’d encourage everyone to come to the game to take time to find out more about what we do, and the difference we make, and to support our work in any way they can.”

In the past year alone, the Foundation has worked with over 36,000 participants, across 29 individual projects, including:

• The Way Forward, a new project supporting the employability, mental health, wellbeing and positive role modelling of the next generation of young men in our city. The project is made possible by the SkyBet EFL Building Foundations Fund

• The Community Partnership Hub, in partnership with Rackets Cubed, which welcomes families every Tuesday to a safe, warm, interactive space where they can access vital food supplies, a clothing bank, cooking and baking demonstrations, and recipe cards and ingredient packs for families to take home

• The Click & Connect photography exhibition, which showcases artwork work created by young people who live in Bradford, each with a series of their own photographs displayed on the City Hub’s walls. 

• Smoke and Vape-Free Sidelines tournament and Catch Your Breath anti-youth vaping campaign, both of which were funded and generated in collaboration with Bradford Council, and facilitated conversations on the dangers of tobacco and the anti-social impacts of smoking and vaping

• SSAFA, the UK Armed Forces, coffee mornings each week at the City Hub 

• Footballing fun every half-term with our all-action football camps, which included a free Community Camp in summer 2025, which welcomed over 200 children and young people from across the city.

The Foundation also oversees the running of Bradford City AFC’s Women and Girls and Disability football teams. It runs its own in-house education provision, allowing students to combine their studies with football, and runs the Bantams Clubhouse, City’s dedicated junior fanzone. 

The Foundation ran a free multi-sport Community Camp during summer 2025.

Bradford City AFC CEO, Ryan Sparks, said: “The Bradford City FC Community Foundation is a vital extension of our football club. The work they do across the district, helping those in need and providing accessible sport, is nothing short of incredible. 

We are looking forward to the 'Community Takeover Day' and celebrating everything their brilliant team does every day.”

Hundreds of participants from the Foundation's programmes will parade around the pitch at half-time on Saturday 7th March, when City take on Leyton Orient.

The Foundation is running numerous events to mark the day, including: 

• The Bantams faithful are encouraged to Bring a Pound to the Ground to support the Foundation’s work. Each pound donated equates to £11 in social value in the form of support and accessible services for those the Foundation works with

• Foundation staff and volunteers shall be taking donations via bucket collections around the stadium, and in the City Hub matchday cafe

• The Bantams Clubhouse, a junior fanzone located at BEAP Community Partnership, will host a bake sale, with a range of treats which have been made by attendees at the Foundation’s Moments Cafe, which is dementia and Parkinson’s-friendly space that opens every Thursday morning

• The capacity opening of the TL Dallas Community Stand, which will house nearly 1500 attendees from across the Foundation’s projects, programmes and partners

• A warm-up shirt design competition, with City players wearing a shirt which was designed by a pupil from a local school, and chosen from over hundreds entries, before the game

• Foundation staff will lead hundreds of attendees on a parade around the pitch, including pupils from the school who submitted the winning shirt design

• A social media competition for all attendees at the game, who share a photo of themselves at the match, tag the Foundation’s accounts, and use the hashtag #CommunityTakeover

• CEO Ian Ormondroyd and COO Lizzie Saunderson-Trowell shall take to the pitch at half-time to address the crowd

Support the Foundation by donating via our OneDonate page here.